Publications Details
An overview of the risk uncertainty assessment process for the Cassini space mission
The Cassini spacecraft is a deep space probe whose mission is to explore the planet Saturn and its moons. Since the spacecraft`s electrical requirements will be supplied by radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs), the spacecraft designers and mission planners must assure that potential accidents involving the spacecraft do not pose significant human risk. The Cassini risk analysis team is seeking to perform a quantitative uncertainty analysis as a part of the overall mission risk assessment program. This paper describes the uncertainty analysis methodology to be used for the Cassini mission and compares it to the methods that were originally developed for evaluation of commercial nuclear power reactors.